It’s official: South Carolina will host NCAA baseball regional, but not as No. 1 seed
Founders Park will be home to an NCAA baseball tournament regional starting Friday — but with a twist.
Old Dominion will serve as the Columbia Regional’s No. 1 seed, with the South Carolina baseball team slotting in as the No. 2. The Gamecocks open against No. 3 Virginia (29-23). The No. 4 seed in Columbia is Jacksonville (16-32).
“We’ll be welcoming three hot teams here to Columbia,” head coach Mark Kingston said. “Now, it’s a matter of who plays the best baseball to advance. But really looking forward to a packed Founders Park. I want to continue to invite all the great Gamecock fans to come out support this team and make this a really great home-field advantage and environment for all of us.”
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, only 20 potential hosting sites were approved by the NCAA, including Founders Park. The Monarchs did not bid to host and were not among those 20 approved hosting schools, but they played their way into a hosting resume by winning their first-ever Conference USA title and soaring to No. 7 in the RPI.
Though Old Dominion (42-14, 22-10 C-USA) won’t have the usual advantage of playing in its home stadium, the Monarchs will open play against the No. 4 seed, and winning the first game of the double-elimination regional round is often paramount.
After struggling down the stretch, the Gamecocks (33-21, 16-14 SEC) slipped out of the hosting picture but will reap a massive benefit in being able to play in their own home ballpark as a No. 2 seed.
This exact scenario was first prognosticated by Teddy Cahill of Baseball America earlier in the week — and it’s not particularly common. The last time a No. 1 seed traveled away from home was when Florida State served as the No. 1 seed at the Norwich Regional in 2010.
“There’s some parts of the year where we could have played a little better, and if that would’ve happened, we’d be looking at a one seed,” outfielder Andrew Eyster said. “We’ve accepted that and understand why that happened, but at the end of the day we’re still getting to play at Founders Park, and that’s the main thing everyone’s excited about.”
Columbia Regional schedule
- Noon Friday: No. 2 South Carolina (33-21) vs. No. 3 Virginia (29-23), ESPN2
- 7 pm Friday: No. 1 Old Dominion (42-14) vs. No. 4 Jacksonville (16-32), ESPN3
Columbia Regional teams at a glance
——No. 1 seed Old Dominion——
42-14 overall, 22-10 in Conference USA
Head coach: Chris Finwood, 10th season as ODU coach
Of note: No 8 in RPI ... Conference USA champions ... Leads nation with 101 home runs ... Seven-game winning streak, won 10 of last 11 games ... 17-6 road record
Players to watch: Conference USA freshman of the Year Carter Trice, second baseman, has team-best .359 batting average with 78 hits, 13 home runs and 53 RBIs ... Senior outfielder Kyle Battle leads the team with 18 home runs ... Junior right-handed pitcher Hunter Gregory 8-2 overall (2.84 ERA) has team-high 85 strikeouts ... Junior righty Jason Hartline (5-0, 1.62 ERA, 3 SVs) has 56 Ks in 44.1 IP
——No. 2 seed South Carolina——
33-21 overall record, 16-14 SEC
Head coach: Mark Kingston, fourth season as USC coach
Of note: No. 18 in RPI ... Played third-hardest schedule in the country, per WarrenNolan.com metrics ... lost four of their last five SEC series
Players to watch: Junior DH/utility player Wes Clarke leads the team with 22 home runs and 53 RBIs ... Junior outfielder Brady Allen leads USC with 61 hits and 12 stolen bases to go with 13 home runs and 42 RBIs ... Andrew Eyster and Braylen Wimmer have 11 HRs each ... Brett Kerry (1.90 ERA) is 5-1 overall with 83 Ks in 52 IPs.
——No. 3 seed Virginia——
29-23 overall record, 18-18 ACC
Head coach: Brian O’Connor, 18th season as head coach of the Cavaliers
Of note: No. 39 in RPI ... 7-2 in last nine games, lost to Duke in ACC tournament semifinals
Players to watch: Senior left-handed pitcher Andrew Abbott (8-5, 2.63 ERA, 136 Ks in 89 IP) was All-ACC first-team selection ... third baseman Zack Gelof, a second-team All-ACC pick, leads the team with 63 hits and 15 doubles ... Freshman DH Kyle Teel leads the team with eight home runs.
——No. 4 seed Jacksonville——
16-32 overall record, 3-15 in ASUN Conference
Head coach: Chris Hayes, fifth season as Dolphins coach
Of note: No. 209 in RPI ... won the ASUN Conference tournament (formerly the Atlantic Sun Conference)
Players to watch: Senior outfielder Ruben Someillan leads the team with a .303 batting average, 60 hits and 33 runs scored ... Junior infielder Christian Coipel has a team-high seven home runs. ... Senior right-handed pitcher Tyler Santana has a team-best 93 strikeouts.
Gamecocks’ NCAA history
This is the 33rd NCAA baseball tournament appearance for the Gamecocks. USC is hosting a regional for the 18th time in school history. The Gamecocks won the College World Series in 2010 and 2011.
South Carolina baseball under Mark Kingston
- 2018: 37-26 final record (17-13 SEC play), lost to Arkansas in NCAA Super Regional
- 2019: 28-28 (8-22 SEC), no NCAA postseason
- 2020: 12-4, season canceled by COVID pandemic
- 2021: 33-21 (16-14 SEC), hosting NCAA regional
2021 NCAA baseball tournament regional sites
The 16 regional sites, with host institutions and records:
- Austin, Texas - Texas (42-15)
- Columbia, South Carolina – South Carolina (33-21)
- Eugene, Oregon – Oregon (37-14)
- Fayetteville, Arkansas – Arkansas (46-10)
- Fort Worth, Texas – TCU (40-17)
- Gainesville, Florida – Florida (38-20)
- Greenville, North Carolina – East Carolina (41-15)
- Knoxville, Tennessee – Tennessee (45-16)
- Lubbock, Texas – Texas Tech (36-15)
- Nashville, Tennessee – Vanderbilt (40-15)
- Oxford, Mississippi – Ole Miss (41-19)
- Ruston, Louisiana – Louisiana Tech (40-18)
- South Bend, Indiana – Notre Dame (30-11)
- Stanford, California – Stanford (33-14)
- Starkville, Mississippi – Mississippi St. (40-15)
- Tucson, Arizona – Arizona (40-15)
This story was originally published May 31, 2021 at 12:34 PM.
